Technology

First Charge Honored as 2024 Green Product of the Year by BIG Awards for Business

Published

1 year ago

November 20, 2024

First Student’s innovative trenchless charging infrastructure recognized for accelerating EV adoption, lowering costs, and simplifying electrification for school districts and fleet managers

CINCINNATI, Nov. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — First Student, the trusted school transportation and technology provider to millions of families and industry leader in electrified student transportation, announced today that First Charge, the company’s modular, scalable charging solution, has been recognized as the Green Product of the Year by 2024 BIG Awards for Business. Hosted by the Business Intelligence Group, this prestigious award celebrates the companies, products, and leaders making a significant impact by reshaping their industries and setting new standards for success.

First Charge, the flexible, cost-effective charging infrastructure for electric bus fleets and medium-to-heavy-duty vehicles, has enabled First Student to accelerate electric school bus deployment in districts across North America. First Charge is First Student’s above-ground, trenchless infrastructure solution designed to charge electric vehicles and simplify the electrification process. It can save districts up to 50% on construction costs and leads to faster EV adoption by eliminating the need for time-intensive and cost-prohibitive trenching, even in cold weather climates. First Charge can also support other last-mile services for medium and heavy-duty electric vehicles such as dump trucks, garbage trucks, and even postal/delivery vehicles.

First Student has installed First Charge in 21 school districts, with 49 more under construction across North America. The infrastructure system has helped First Student go from three to four million miles driven in its electric school buses in a matter of six months, saving 533,325 gallons of diesel and preventing 11,935,803 pounds in carbon emissions.

“First Charge is changing the way we electrify student transportation, freeing up valuable resources for districts to focus on educating students and accelerating electric deployments as well as our ability to deliver clean, quiet and safe rides to school,” said First Student CEO and President John Kenning. “We are honored by this recognition and thank the Business Intelligence Group for highlighting First Charge, naming it the Green Product of the Year. First Charge is making it easier than ever for school districts to afford, install and scale their electric school bus fleet. As we continue to pursue innovations in the mold of First Charge, First Student will always put our mission first, providing unmatched service with healthier rides for children, so they are starting the day ready for success.”

“For 13 years, the BIG Awards for Business spotlight those whose innovative spirit, commitment to progress and resilience are not only advancing their fields, but also inspiring a global movement,” said Russ Fordyce, CEO of the Business Intelligence Group. “Congratulations to First Student for driving forward a brighter future with First Charge.”

First Charge is at the center of a landmark demonstration project from First Student and Con Edison in Brooklyn, New York. It revolutionizes how students are transported to school and how cities and utilities power their grids. First Charge will power a fleet of 12 electric school buses topped with solar panels. These panels, along with solar arrays on the facility’s rooftop, will create a unique energy generation, battery storage and power delivery system. The system will utilize Vehicle-to-Everything technology, allowing Con Edison the ability to send clean solar-generated power anywhere on the grid using school bus batteries.

First Charge can support up to 25 electric school buses per power management module. Most firms hired by school districts to design a power distribution solution to promote effective electric school bus operations choose to bury cable underground. Burying cables requires digging and trenching, an expensive approach that limits future expansion and disrupts residents, businesses and operations. Once buried, the infrastructure can no longer be modified to accommodate changing lot requirements as a school district grows its electric school bus fleet. First Charge is crucial in First Student’s commitment to transitioning 30,000 diesel vehicles to electric by 2035.

Learn more about First Charge here.

About First Student
As North America’s leading school transportation solutions provider, First Student strives to provide unmatched care and the safest ride to school to 5.5 million students daily. With a team of highly trained drivers, the company will complete 1 billion student trips during the 2024-25 school year. First Student delivers reliable, quality services, including full-service transportation and management, special-needs transportation, fleet electrification, route optimization, scheduling, maintenance, and charter services. Its fleet includes about 45,000 buses.

About Business Intelligence Group
The Business Intelligence Group was founded with the mission of recognizing true talent and superior performance in the business world. Unlike other industry award programs, business executives—those with experience and knowledge—judge the programs. The organization’s proprietary and unique scoring system selectively measures performance across multiple business domains and then rewards those companies whose achievements stand above those of their peers.

CONTACT
Jen Biddinger, First Student, 513.362.4600

Maria Jimenez, Chief Nominations Officer, Business Intelligence Group, jmaria@bintelligence.com, 909.529.2737

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SOURCE First Student

Technology

Bonree Powers Global Digital Finance with Intelligent Observability

Published

36 minutes ago

April 27, 2026

DONGGUAN, China, April 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — From March 31 to April 2, 2026, the second Huawei Global Financial EcoWeek, themed “Inspire • Collaborate • Achieve: Reshaping the Future of Finance”, was held in Sanyapo, Dongguan. The event brought together over 400 attendees from Huawei partners across more than 30 countries and regions, including over 60 independent software vendors (ISVs) and over 120 system integrators (SIs) in the financial industry. As global financial data volumes surge, customer demands diversify, and regulatory requirements evolve, financial institutions are accelerating their digital and intelligent transformation. Observability and intelligent operations technologies enable institutions to detect system anomalies in real time, optimise performance, and ensure business continuity, while cross-regional and cross-institution collaboration is becoming a key driver of industry innovation.

At the event, NTT Data signed a partnership agreement with BONREE DATA TECHNOLOGY Co., Ltd. (Bonree), marking the launch of a renewed global financial ecosystem under the “SI Value Growth Plan.” As the first publicly listed company in China’s Application Performance Management (APM) and observability market, Bonree is advancing its globalisation strategy with established operations in Hong Kong SAR, Singapore, and Malaysia. The company has already secured orders worth millions in the Hong Kong and Macau region. Bonree complies with internationally recognised standards, including SOC 2 Type II and CMMI Level 5. Its self-developed LLM-powered observability platform has been selected for Huawei Cloud’s international baseline solution library, reflecting recognition from global cloud ecosystems and supporting its expansion with a “global deployment, local compliance” approach.

Bonree serves over 1,000 leading clients worldwide with system monitoring, performance optimisation, and intelligent operations solutions. Leveraging proprietary unsupervised knowledge graph root cause analysis technology and AI-driven intelligent analytics, Bonree delivers plug-and-play monitoring and fully managed adaptive alerting systems that detect anomalies quickly and accurately with minimal noise. With 56 authorised invention patents and 135 software copyrights, as well as 24/7 global technical support, Bonree maintains an NPS of 79 and a client satisfaction rate of 95%, reflecting its deep overseas market presence and trust among international financial institutions. With these core strengths, Bonree continues to lead in global fintech and digital operations, helping clients ensure business continuity and digital transformation while striving to become a leading global player in APM and observability.

CONTACT:
Yao Xiaohan
yaoxiaohan@bonree.com
+8618210189324

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SOURCE BONREE DATA TECHNOLOGY Co., Ltd.

Technology

HZICC: The 2025 Hangzhou Highlights Awards Celebrating Visionaries Elevating the City’s Global Profile

Published

36 minutes ago

April 27, 2026

HANGZHOU, China, April 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — What does the world see when it looks at Hangzhou? The Hangzhou & Friends: 2025 Hangzhou Highlights Awards, unveiled on February 4, offered an answer—not through statistics alone, but through the stories of connection that unfolded across the year.

The awards were born from a simple recognition: that a city’s global presence is built not only on grand events, but on the countless moments when people reach across borders. To honor this, the organizers structured the awards into four chapters: Dialogue of Civilizations, Industrial Narratives, Social Innovation, and Moments of the Year, each capturing a different way that Hangzhou touched the world.

Across these categories, moments of quiet resonance stood out. In the realm of cultural dialogue, ten friends from ten nations explored Hangzhou for the first time, their journeys later echoed by the city’s own return visits to Istanbul and Cairo. After the visits, a German photographer’s image of Qiandao Lake’s giant net fishing found its way to the pages of The Times, Hangzhou’s bond with Verona deepened into a year-long romance of music, art, and shared celebration, proving that sister-city ties can bloom into something far richer than ceremony.

On the Liangzhu Day of 2025, the “Liangzhu and the World: Dialogue between Liangzhu Ancient City and Rome Ancient City” was held—one of several moments when the region’s archaeological treasures found new resonance on the global stage. Beyond culture, the awards recognized how Hangzhou’s industries are telling Chinese stories overseas, from Geely’s global development to the rise of cross-border e-commerce that brings Hangzhou products，and the culture behind them directly to international consumers.

Yet there were also countless other people and moments that helped the world know Hangzhou. An international student from Pakistan filmed the city he had come to call home, capturing not just its landmarks but the feeling of belonging. A volunteer from Zimbabwe found himself holding hands with local police and strangers in a human chain at West Lake to maintain traffic order, discovering that being welcomed means being trusted to help. The Hangzhou International Conference Center became a stage for cross-cultural encounter, while Hangzhou’s tech-themed travel routes offered visitors a chance to explore the city’s cutting-edge innovations.

Together, these moments traced a portrait of Hangzhou not as a place that simply welcomes visitors, but as one that listens, shares, and grows, through the people who carry its stories onward.

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SOURCE HZICC

Technology

Flagship Tablet to Highlight Huawei Innovative Product Launch in Bangkok

Published

36 minutes ago

April 27, 2026

BANGKOK, April 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Huawei officially announced the “Now Is Your Spark” Innovative Launch Event, due to be held in Bangkok, Thailand on May 7, 2026. This launch event will unveil a comprehensive lineup of flagship tablets, wearables, and smartphones. Empowering daily life with technology and exploring future frontiers through innovation, Huawei aims to inspire every user through intelligent experiences across all scenarios.

As one of the highlights of this launch event, the flagship tablet HUAWEI MatePad Pro Max will make its global debut. The HUAWEI MatePad Pro series has consistently delivered comprehensive experience breakthroughs with best-in-class productivity and creativity. This new device is Huawei’s best tablet yet, with a lightweight design, PC-level productivity, and PaperMatte Display, opening new possibilities for work, creation, and creative expression.

In the wearables sector, the HUAWEI WATCH FIT Series continues to gain widespread recognition from global consumers. By April 2026, shipments have exceeded 24 million units, setting a new benchmark in the fashion sports smartwatch market. The series offers a lightweight, comfortable wearing experience while providing professional sports guidance and health management features. At the Huawei Innovative Launch Event in Bangkok, the all-new HUAWEI WATCH FIT 5 Series will debut. It is set to become the ideal companion for users to express personal style, explore sports enjoyment, and monitor health around the clock. Additionally, this launch will introduce the HUAWEI WATCH GT Runner 2 Racing Legend Edition, specially designed for marathons with its upgraded data analysis capabilities to scientifically support every step of the run. Moreover, Huawei plans to unveil its first jewelry smartwatch designed in partnership with renowned international jewelry designer Francesca Amfitheatrof—the HUAWEI WATCH ULTIMATE DESIGN Spring Edition. Also making a grand return after five years is the next-generation premium kids watch, the HUAWEI WATCH KIDS X1 Series.

In the smartphone segment, HUAWEI nova 15 Max will deliver an upgraded experience for global consumers. Leveraging strengths in imaging technology, battery life, and reliable quality, it is an ideal companion for young people to capture life’s moments and unleash their creativity.

Now Is Your Spark— every individual can light up the world to drive change, and technology serves as the torch to ignite, connect, and amplify this force. By giving passion a voice, inspiration a purpose, and expression a stage, Huawei aims to empower consumers worldwide to write their own stories with innovative technologies.

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